Navajos agree to end horse roundups for slaughter

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- The Navajo Nation, under fire by animal protection
groups for its wild horse roundups and public support for a return to domestic
horse slaughter, says it is reversing its stance following talks with former New
Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.

Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly says he met with Richardson over the weekend
and the two have agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding to work together
to find more long-term and humane solutions to the horse overpopulation problem.
Tribal officials estimate the Navajo Nation has 75,000 feral horses drinking
wells dry and causing ecological damage to the drought-stricken range.

Richardson and actor Robert Redford this year created the Foundation to
Protect New Mexico Wildlife, which is fighting efforts by a Roswell company to a
horse slaughterhouse.